1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device which carries out image processing on the basis of drawing commands or image data prepared by various applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
DTP (desktop publishing) has come to be widely used as a way of digitizing in the field of printing processing. In DTP, at a processing device such as a personal computer or a work station or the like, a page layout is prepared by carrying out preparation, manipulation, editing, and the like of an image. On the basis of this page layout, preparation of a film for exposing a printing plate is carried out (CEPS), or a press plate for printing is prepared by directly writing onto a printing plate (CTP: computer-to-plate).
When proofreading and the like are carried out before printing by using an actual press plate, a page layout displayed on a monitor is printed out by a print-out device such as a page printer or the like by using the WYSIWG function or the like.
A color laser printer or the like is used when the work of proofreading of a color image and color proofreading are carried out. Further, when color proofreading work is carried out, there are cases in which a special color printer, which is exclusively used for confirming tints, is used.
A color printer used in the proofreading and color proofreading work has an image processing function which can simulate the tints in an actual plate-making and printing environment. Further, there are color printers which can carry out adjustment and switching such that a plurality of plate-making and printing environments can be simulated.
On the other hand, when carrying out printing by using an actual press plate, in order to manage the printed output, a color management image, which is called a color patch or a scale for management (and which will hereinafter be called “color patch”), is printed in the margin. By measuring the densities of the respective colors of the color patch by using a densitometer, it can be confirmed whether or not colors have been reproduced appropriately.
Further, with color printers as well, there are cases in which color patches are printed in order to manage the printed output. When printing-out of a print simulation using a color printer is carried out, in order to manage the printed output and to grasp the simulation characteristics, there are cases in which a color patch is printed-out in the margin by using a color patch printing function of the printer.
A color patch used at the time of carrying out printing simulation is used in management and in comparison with printed output obtained by using a press plate. A color printer outputs a color patch on which image processings have been carried out in order to simulate the plate-making and printing environment.
On the other hand, changes and deterioration in the mechanical characteristics of a color printer, which are due to differences between individual color printers, replacement of parts, and fluctuations over time, appear in the output from a color printer. The precision of the printing simulation of the plate-making and printing environment deteriorates due to such changes and deterioration.
However, the aforementioned color patch is subjected to image processing for the printing simulation, and the changes in the characteristics of the color printer cannot be directly grasped. Further, when the color printer is used when the simulation is switched to a different printing environment, a different color patch which has been subjected to different image processings is outputted each time. Thus, the color patch cannot be used to grasp changes in the characteristics of the color printer itself. As a result, an improvement in the precision of the printing simulation cannot be achieved.